Founder of biker club 'no longer employed' at Burnaby Fire Department

A memo obtained by Postmedia says that Nick Elmes, a firefighter who founded a biker club, is no longer employed by the City of Burnaby.

“Effective today, Nick Elmes is no longer employed by the City of Burnaby,” Acting Fire Chief Dave Samson says in the terse, one-line internal memo, which was sent out on Wednesday afternoon.

The memo’s subject is simply “Nick Elmes.”

It’s not clear whether Elmes resigned or was fired. The Burnaby Fire Department wasn’t immediately available for comment.

Earlier this month, Postmedia’s Kim Bolan revealed that Elmes and two other Burnaby firefighters, as well as two New Westminster firefighters and a retired firefighter from Vancouver were members of Florian’s Knights.

The club was recently formed and Elmes told Bolan he was one of the founders.

Members of the clubs have been appearing at events alongside members of the Hells Angels. Elmes said those events were open to anyone to attend. The Knights club was formed to raise money for charity and that no one should be concerned, he added.

Elmes was photographed with three Hells Angels members, including Kelowna president Damiano Dipopolo. Elmes said he and Dipopolo were childhood friends.

The Knights have been wearing a three-piece patch on the backs of their leather vests, meaning they sought permission from the Hells Angels when they were forming, retired police biker expert Brad Stephen told Postmedia.

He called this “disturbing.”

Earlier this month, Burnaby Fire Chief Joe Robertson said he also had concerns about the Knights and has met with the RCMP to discuss the issue.

“The city and the fire department do not condone any association of our members with the Hells Angels. We support the good work that all the rest of our firefighters do in the community,” Robertson said. “This reflects really poorly on the good work that everybody else does.”

Some of the Knights have been wearing their vests, known as “colours” on their way to work, Robertson said. He added that while he was displeased that those firefighters were doing so, advice from lawyers had told the department nothing could be done by the employer to stop employees from wearing colours on their way to work

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